In Pointer’s (Vivian’s Song, 2009) dramatic novel, a troubled newcomer to a small Texas town unexpectedly becomes a local hero.
In the mid-1950s, William “Rooster” Brown stands outside Mel’s Truck Stop in Merky, Texas, holding a gun. He’s waiting for a waitress who humiliated him by rejecting his offer of a date. But when two would-be robbers suddenly raid the diner, Rooster stops them from raping a girl and possibly murdering the patrons—by shooting them both dead. The Merky townsfolk are smitten with Rooster’s valiant deed, and Mel Tucker—the diner’s owner, whose daughter, Laurie, was nearly assaulted—offers him a job and a place to live. Sheriff Bill Hickey, on the other hand, is skeptical, particularly after hearing that Rooster is the grandson of notorious outlaw Devil Brown. Mel pushes Rooster to run for sheriff in the upcoming election, and Rooster eventually does so, much to the chagrin of the town’s cops. Despite all that happens in these 500-plus pages, including a romance between Rooster and Laurie, surprisingly little narrative time passes—no more than two years. This allows the plot to center on Rooster, an imperfect protagonist who commendably recognizes his flaws: He never forgets his original, dark intentions at Mel’s, which contradict his status as a hero. He’s also torn between having religious faith, like his preacher father, or falling victim to alcohol, as his criminal grandfather did. When Rooster becomes part of the Tucker family by marrying Laurie, it adds a nice dynamic, particularly when he grows weary of Mel’s controlling influence and considers an affair with Merky’s newest resident, a beautiful German woman whose officer husband is overseas. Some of the novel’s supporting characters outshine the Tuckers, such as moonshiners Cletus and Alice, who befriend Rooster; and Harvey, a sympathetic cop whom many have written off as the “town idiot” but who seems to have an eidetic memory. Some scenes are also a bit overlong, as when Rooster undergoes “debate boot camp” during his campaign, but the solid final section significantly amps up the suspense.
An appealing tale that shows that even the luckiest people have barriers to overcome.
Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-0615917832
Page Count: 552
Publisher: Tom Pointer
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...
Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.
After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45071-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
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